Reel for dispensing tie wires



y 1961 G. E. BEIDERWELL 2,982,491

REEL FOR DISPENSING TIE WIRES Filed Sept. 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. GEORGE E. BIED ERWELL MEL a W ATTORN EY May 2, 1961 G. E.BEIDERWELL REEL FOR DISPENSING TIE WIRES Filed Sept. 22, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. GEORGE E BIEDERWELL ATTORNEYS REEL FORDISPENSING TIE WIRES George E. Beiderwell, 328 Harahan Blvd;, Paducah,Ky.

Filed Sept. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 762,619

Claims. Cruz-96 This invention relates to tie wire dispensingreels ofthe character of those shown in my Patent 2,683,000

issued July 6, 1954 and in the Sato Patents Nos. 1,990; 135 and2,542,580, issued on February 5, 1935, and February 20, 1951,respectively. I I Y I The object of the present invention is to providea reel of the character indicated'which will be of very light weight butso strong as to have a long .life under the strains imposed upon it inusefone in which the wire carrying spool or reel will rotate easily andwithout undue friction; one in which the tie wire may be withdrawn withequal facility by either right or left-handed persons; one in WhlCh theroll of tie wire is so positively engaged with the spool that overrunning of the wire is effectively prevented; one in which jamming ofthe wire between the casing and the spool flanges is guarded against andone in which the point of suspension of the whole structure upon thebody embracing belt of the user is such as to cause the weight of thewhole structure totend to swing toward the body of the user and therebyto pre-- Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Figure Figure 3is a rear view of the device. 7

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on line 44 of Figure 2. 1

Figure 5' is an exploded perspective view.

' Figure 6 is a detail sectional view illustrating the formation of thelip of the casi over which the wire -is pulled out.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of thedrawings.

The device of the invention comprises a casing C consisting of arelatively flat rear wall 5 and a circular peripheral wall 6, that sideof the casing opposite wall 5 being open for the insertion of the reelor spool, hereinafter referred to as the reel, and which reel receives apreformed coil of tie wire. The whole structure is, in use, suspendedupon 'a body embracing element such as belt 7 that is worn by theworkman. Any suitable means may be employed for suspending the structureupon belt 7. The means herein shownconsists of a pair of loops 8 whichproject from the rear side of the casing and are preferably so locatedabove the center of the structure as to suspend the casing in a mannerto cause it to tend to swing toward and against the body of the user.

The reel proper comprises a central core or hub 9, a

of a device constructed in t t d .Me 26.1,

front flange '11. The core 9 carries a plurality. of ribs 12 extendinglengthwise along its outer surface and the rear flange 10 may also beprovided with strengthening} ribs 13 upon its inner face.

The casing C, the core 9, the inner flange l0, and

the removable frontflange 11, together with the loops 8, are all made ofaluminum or otherlight weight material for the purpose of rendering thestructure as light in weight, as possible. This is of importance in astructure which must beworn by a workman, throughcon secutive hours oflabor. The wire that is to be dispensed and which, in forming a tie,must be twisted, is usually of relatively soft iron. and such a coil ofwire is necessarily of a very appreciable weight. It is, therefore,desirable to offset this weight of the wire coil by making thedispensing structure as light in weight as possible. However, the use ofaluminum, magnesium or other light.

weight material is accompanied by the disadvantage that thesematerialsdo not offer the same strength and wear resistance that areoffered by such metals as iron, steel andbrass.

In mounting the reel for rotation, in, and with respect to the casing, acentral arbor 14, comprising a head 15 and threaded inner end 16, isengaged with the casing C by screwing its threaded inner end into a hardmetal, nut like element 17, which is forced into a correspondinglyshaped opening in the vertical wall 18 which constitutes the inner faceof a cup like indented member 19, formed integrally with the rear wall 5of the casing. The threaded end portion of the arbor 14 projects beyondthe nut like element 17, far enough to receive a retaining and lock nut20, and when the arbor is screwed into the nut like element and theretaining nut is applied,

the arbor is rigidly aflixed to the casing. The retaining nut 20 lieswithin the cup like indentation 19 and thus lies in a position where itdoes not contact the body of the user, nor cause any discomfort duringlong periods of use of the structure.

A, preferably, brass bushing 21 is cast in the hub or core of the reeland constitutes the bearing element of the reel upon the arbor. Athreaded extension 22 of this bushing receives a correspondinglythreaded washer like ring 23 of a hard metal, such as iron or steel,said ring being cast into a central-opening of the removable frontflange 11. The threaded engagement described between the reel hub andthe removable front flange, is

' preferably a left-handed one, whereby when it is deflange 10 that isintegral with the core and a removable sired to wind any withdrawn wireback into the casing, rotation of the front flange by means of thehandle 24 will tend to tighten said front flange rather than'loosen it.The hub of the reel 9 and the ribs 12 on the surface thereof preferablypresent a structure which tapers slightly from the rear flange 10 towardthe front flange. The front ends of the ribs 12, against which the frontflange abuts when said flange is screwed all the Way home are providedwith transversely extending notches 25, into any one of which the innerterminal end 25a of the coil of wire, may be inserted, thus ensuringthat the coil of wire as a whole, can not turn with respect to the reelbut must turn with the reel. Thus any possibility of over-running of thewire, and entanglement thereof, is preventedfflhe inner end of the brassbushing 21, bears upon theinner face of the hard metal fixed nut 17, theinner face of said nut being extended inwardly beyond the plane of thevertical wall 18 of the indentation 19, to such an extent that therotative contact between the reel and the casing is that afforded by thecontact of the inner end of the brass bushing with the face of the hardmetal, nut like member. Thus it will be seen that there is no rotativecontact between any aluminum part of thereel with analnminum part ofthecasing C. The structure may bemuch more economically manufactured byforcing an ordinary hard metal nut into the inner vertical wall 18 ofthe indentation 19, than by threading said vertical wall for thereception of arbor 14. This is so because in order to so thread saidwall for the arbor it would be necessary to chuck and center the casingC in a screw cutting machine. Further the aluminum casing lacks thestrength for such threading. A more important point is that by forcing ahard metal nut 17 into place, as described with its inner faceprojecting inwardly of the said vertical wall, the end of the relativelysoft metal, brass bushing, rotates upon this inwardly projecting face ofthe nut. Thus all wear is upon the easily replaceable bushing andrelatively none upon the casing itself. Nut 17 is thus caused to serveseveral functions, to wit, its inner face provides a bearing portionupon which the brass bushing rides; its hard metal outer face provides asurface against which the lock nut may impinge and bind in locking thearbor in place and its threaded bore receives the threaded inner end ofthe arbor 14. Outward movement of the hub of the reel is prevented bythe head 15 of the arbor 14.

To permit wire to be withdrawn in either direction, by eitherright-handed or left-handed workmen the peripheral wall 6 is providedwith the openings 26 and 27, and it will be observed that the majorportion of the opening 27 lies above the center of the casing while themajor portion of the opening 26 lies below the center of the casing.When the reel is being worn upon the right hand side of the workman thewire is withdrawn from the top of the coil of wire and when the reel isworn upon the left hand side, the wire is withdrawn from the lower sideof the coil. The reel is worn upon the left side by a right-handedworkman, who withdraws the wire with his left hand while with the righthand he manipulates the pliers with which he cuts off the piece that isto be used for the tie. Note that the belt loops are disposed enoughabove the center of the structure, to suspend the casing in such mannerthat the pull upon the wire by the workman, tends to swing the casingtoward and into contact with the workmans body and that 10- eating oneof the withdrawal openings in the peripheral wall, higher than the otheropening facilities easy withdrawal of the wire, whether the wire isbeing withdrawn from the top or from the bottom of the coil on thespool.

It has been the practice to form those edges of the openings, throughwhich the wire is withdrawn, as enlarged and rounded beads, to reducefriction and to receive the wear. However, the formation of theserounded beads has left openings, presenting flaring mouths at the pointwhere the said beads overlie the outer edge of the outer flange 11; withthe result that when the handle 24 is manipulated to turn the reel andrewind any of the wire that has been withdrawn, the wire engages in thisflaring opening and binds between the casing and the front flange. Thiscauses annoyance to the workman and loss of valuable time in disengagingthe trapped wire. To prevent this troublesome action I form the terminaledge of the wall 6 as a wear resisting and friction reducing bead 26athroughout the major portion of the width of the casing, but at thepoint where said terminal edge lies close to the peripheral edge of theflanges 10 and 11, and especially where it lies close to the outerflange 11, the front face of the bead is extended downward in a straightline to the inner face of the peripheral wall 6. This leaves arelatively sharp edge 27a at that point, which lies in such closeproximity to the peripheral edge of the flange as to prevent the entryof the wire between casing and flange, at that point.

While I have described the belt engaging means as constituting spacedloops 8, it is clear that the same result could be achieved byincreasing the width of the loops toward each other, until the beltengaging surface presented is a substantially continuous one.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction set forth but that it includes within its purview whateverchanges fairly fall within either the terms or the spirit of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A structure of the character described comprising a cup like casingconsisting of a vertical rear wall and i a circular peripheral wall,said rear wall having a central indented cup like portion, the inner endof which presents a vertical wall having a fixed threaded nut likeelement embedded therein, with the inner face of the nut like elementprojecting beyond the inner face of the cup like indentation, an arborlying perpendicular with respect to the rear wall of the casing andhaving an inner end threaded in said nut like member, a reel constructedto receive a coil of wire to be dispensed, said reel comprising a hub,an inner flange and a removable outer flang said hub carrying in fixedrelationship thereto an internal wear resisting bushing which embracesand rides upon said arbor and the inner end of which bears and ridesupon the projecting face of said fixed nut like member.

2. A structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the length of the arbor issuch that its inner end extends beyond said nut like member and into theinterior of the cup like indentation of the rear wall of the casing anda retaining nut threaded upon the said inner end of the arbor, which nutlies wholly within the confines of the indented cup like portion of therear wall and which impinges upon the outer face of the nut likeelement.

3. A structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the forward end of saidbushing is threaded and wherein the removable front flange of the reelis screwed upon said threaded portion.

4. A device of the character described comprising a cup like casingconsisting of a substantially plane rear wall and a forwardly projectingcircular peripheral wall, said peripheral wall being provided with awire withdrawal opening at each side thereof, said rear wall of thecasing being provided with a forwardly projecting centrally disposed cuplike indentation, a hard metal nut like member rigidly aflixed in theinner end of the said forwardly projecting indentation, with the innerface of the said nut like member projecting inwardly beyond the plane ofthe inner face of said indentation, an arbor threaded into said fixednut like member and extending materially beyond said nut like member toprovide a portion lying within said indentation of the casing, aretaining and lock nut disposed wholly within said indentation andthreaded upon the inner end of said arbor, a headed front end memberupon that end of the arbor remote from said indentation, a reelcomprising a hub, an integral inner flange and a removable outer flange,a bearing bushing fixed to said hub, the ends of which bear between theinner face of the fixed out like member and the head forming portion ofthe arbor.

5. A structure as recited in claim 4 wherein said bushing carries aleft-hand thread and wherein the removable flange of the reel carries acorrespondingly threaded central portion for engagement with suchthreads and a handle upon the removable flange for rotating the same,said threads being of left-handed formation so that when the handle ismanipulated to return the reel in a direction to wind surplus wire backinto the casing, the threads will tighten the removable flange upon thehub.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS606,666 Hubner July 5, 1898 1,593,012 Bryant July 20, 1926 2,249,ll4Colfman July 15, 1941 2,542,580 Sato Feb. 20, 1951 2,683,000 BeiderwellJuly 6, 1954

